Between birth and death there is this great journey of life with many stops and starts, mountain tops and deep valleys. Along the way we make and lose many friends and are in constant thought. How much we are thinking, how deep those thoughts go and how varied the selections, will be as varied as the snowflakes that drift on the plains. This is just my journey and these are my thoughts.

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You may have noticed that, for months now I haven’t written anything. I can blame it on being busy with school and taking care of my nephew. While true, I could have taken the time to write something. I did try several times but I had not the words to describe what I was feeling and thinking. Even now writing this, I am struggling to convey what is going on in my head. I find the words to express my thoughts out of reach and when I find the words they are not right and I spend an inordinate amount of time rearranging them so they are just right.

I’ve been back from Barcelona for just over a year and in that time I’ve been going and going without stopping for self-reflection. At times when I do reflect, I actively shy away from delving deep as I am not ready or in a place to deal with further introspection.

On the way to Oslo

Anyhoo, I decided to pop in and let you all know I’m still here, just have nothing to share, or rather an inability to articulate what is going on in my head and life at the moment. I’ll have some time this summer to hopefully focus, reflect and move forward. I don’t have my nephew (he’s back with my brother) or school (I dropped my classes) to use as an excuse. I do have my garden but it doesn’t take all day so I can’t really use that either.

Like this:

Summer 2013 saw me back in NYC with an awesomely energetic 5-year-old in my charge. After, the requisite “What did I get myself into?” I decided that I must have a clear plan for what I will do with the little Tasmanian devil for the summer (really his energy is unending). My goal was to keep him occupied and the have him experience new things. I think we got the first goal accomplished quite well, only in the reverse. HE keep ME occupied. The second was a little more challenging for me to do. What new things could I introduce to a 5-year-old that he would like and I would not lose my mind in the doing of? We managed a few things, a museum to see dinosaur bones, a ball park for his first baseball game (go Cyclones!) and a ride out of the city to go berry picking among the other summer happenings.

Me & the kid

After consulting the Google machine for farms that allow you to pick your own fruit, we settled on Ellsworth Hill Orchard & Berry Farm which is about a 2 hour drive from Brooklyn. Close enough for a day trip and far enough away to escape the noise and dirt of the city. I was a bit apprehensive about taking him into orchards and berry patches where we would most assuredly encounter bugs. My nephew does NOT like bugs. He throws a fit when one comes around and demands that I do something about the creepy crawlies. But I figure hey, he’s 5 he should get used to dirt and bugs and maybe even learn to make mud pies like his Auntie did at that age.

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After collecting our bags of berry we stopped at park at the bottom of the incline to see the waterfalls as recommended by the proprietors. We wished we had planned better and brought our picnic baskets to sit in the share of the trees and enjoy the cool waters running over our feet. Alas, we didn’t envision such a lovely glen so had no repast to sit down to. After a much too short time we moved onto one of the small towns in the area for lunch. We patronized the local library book sale and then when the gremlins could not be quieted any longer sat down at a tavern for some lunch. Alas, my phone died so no pictures of the delicious lunch.

You might be wondering if we ate all of those berries. Some of us did and for the excess I made a delicious Berry Crisp. Go check out the post and get your drool on.

Do you ever take day trips in your local area to sample the richness right in your backyard? Share your ideas and adventures in the comments.